Sorting electronic messages using attributes of the sender address

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for sorting electronic messages using attributes of senders or of sender addresses. An electronic messaging server sorts electronic messages using attributes associated with the senders or sender addresses of the electronic messages. The sender addresses and associated attributes are stored in an accept list. A sorting module uses the accept list to sort the electronic messages into various folders. The sorting module can also access other data sources, such as a contact list, to assist in sorting the electronic messages. The attributes can be determined independently of the user or can be set directly by the user. The attributes can also identify a status of a sender such as whether the sender is authorized, unauthorized, or unconfirmed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/842,792, filed Aug. 21, 2007, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/418,373, filed Apr. 18, 2003, issued Oct. 30,2007 under U.S. Pat. No. 7,290,033, which applications are incorporatedherein by reference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. The Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to sorting electronic messages.More specifically, the present invention relates to systems and methodsfor sorting incoming electronic messages using attributes associatedwith the sender, the sender address, and/or other characteristics of theelectronic message.

2. Background and Relevant Art

Today, businesses and individuals are communicating using electronicmessages such as emails, instant messages and voice messages.Communicating in this manner is convenient because the electronicmessages are delivered relatively quickly to the recipient. Electronicmessages enable individuals and businesses to carry on conversations,transact business, etc., at minimal cost. The ease by which a person isable to send and receive electronic messages thus makes this form ofcommunication extremely attractive.

As a person or business begins to send and receive electronic messages,it quickly becomes clear that the electronic messages need to be sorted.The need to sort electronic messages, which often applies to both theelectronic messages that are sent as well as to the electronic messagesthat are received, arises for a variety of reasons. First, many usershave many different correspondents and these users can potentiallyreceive hundreds of electronic messages over a short period of time. Ifa particular user is away from his or her computer for an extendedperiod of time, sorting through unread messages can become a timeconsuming task. In fact, a user that does not check his or her email fora week or even a day is often faced with this problem. Thus, many usersspend significant time sorting through the electronic messages that theyhave received.

The need to sort electronic messages is further complicated byunsolicited electronic messages. Unsolicited electronic messagestypically include commercial advertisements and political messaging, butmay also include offensive solicitations such as pornographicsolicitations. Generally, users deal with both solicited and unsolicitedmessages on a daily basis. While many users tolerate sorting throughsolicited electronic messages, sorting through unsolicited electronicmessages can be annoying and is a waste of valuable time.

Today, electronic messaging programs provide some sorting capabilities.Many of these methods, however, are dependent on actions of the userwith respect to the electronic messaging program. The use of filterwords, for example, to automate the process of sorting the electronicmessages, is primarily applied to unsolicited electronic messages. Inthis case, a user enters certain words into a filtering system. When anelectronic message having those certain words in the subject line orbody of the message is received, the message can automatically be routedto a particular folder. This method requires a recipient to manuallyenter all of the filter words, specify which areas of the message are tobe examined (i.e. the subject line, the body, etc.) and then direct thesystem where to send the messages. A clear disadvantage of this methodis that an electronic message can be easily placed in the wrong folderwhen an electronic message unexpectedly contains a filter term. When anelectronic message is sent to the wrong folder, for example, theelectronic message may be inadvertently deleted or the electronicmessage may not be read in a timely manner.

Some users sort their electronic messages manually. One of the problemsfaced by users in this situation is that the users are faced with thetask of sorting through all of their electronic messages in order toidentify and move certain electronic messages. In addition, some usersmay want to have a particular electronic message in more than onefolder. When the electronic messages are sorted manually, those usersare required to copy and paste the electronic message into each folder.Other users set up various rules that are applied to each electronicmessage. These rules are not related to persistent sender/senderaddresses, but are typically applied to each electronic message todetermine if the rule should apply. This can be computationallyexpensive.

Conventional techniques for sorting incoming electronic messages aredependent on the user and can often be cumbersome and difficult tomanage. Because users receive increasing numbers of solicited andunsolicited electronic messages, there is a need to manage and sortelectronic messages more effectively without having to apply a set ofrules to each separate electronic message.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

These and other limitations are overcome by the present invention whichrelates generally to sorting electronic messages. The present inventionfurther relates to systems and methods for sorting electronic messagesusing attributes associated with the sender, the sender address, and/orother aspects of the electronic message. One advantage of the presentinvention is that sorting the electronic messages is related topersistent senders and/or sender addresses. Thus, an electronic messagecan be sorted using attributes of a sender or sender address rather thanapplying a set of rules to each electronic message. In one embodiment,electronic messages are sorted using an accept list that stores senderaddresses and the attributes of the sender addresses. The presentinvention can also be applied to instant messaging and other forms ofaddressable electronic messages including, but not limited to, voicemail messaging systems.

In one embodiment of the present invention, an accept list is createdthat stores sender addresses. Each sender address is associated with oneor more attributes that are used to sort the electronic messages. Theaccept list, for example, includes attributes that identify whether aparticular sender is authorized, unauthorized, or unconfirmed. Theattributes also identify whether a particular sender has successfullyresponded to a challenge sent by the user's electronic message server.The attributes can also identify how a sender was included in the acceptlist. Other attributes can also be included in the accept list.

When an electronic message is received at an electronic message server,a sorting module sorts the electronic messages into particular foldersusing the attributes of the sender that are included in the accept list.If a sender or sender address is not included in the accept list, thenthe electronic message may still sorted based on that fact. In oneembodiment, the sender is entered in the accept list and assigneddefault attributes that are used to sort the electronic message.

One advantage of the present invention is that each electronic messagedoes not have to be processed with rules that may or may not apply tothe electronic message. In the present invention, attributes areassociated with sender addresses. Because the sender address isimmediately known from the electronic message, the electronic messagecan be sorted using the attributes associated with the electronicmessage without first determining which rules apply to the electronicmessage.

The accept list, which stores sender addresses and their associatedattributes, becomes a central data structure for an electronic messagingsystem that can provide stronger sorting capabilities. A sorting modulecan access not only the accept list to sort electronic messages, but canalso take advantage of a user's contact list or other data structures tosort the electronic messages. In addition, the present invention canutilize a challenge/response to assist in automatically settingattributes in the accept list and in sorting the electronic messages. Inthis manner, electronic messages can be sorted without direct input fromthe user in one embodiment.

Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth inthe description which follows, and in part will be obvious from thedescription, or may be learned by the practice of the invention. Thefeatures and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained bymeans of the instruments and combinations particularly pointed out inthe appended claims. These and other features of the present inventionwill become more fully apparent from the following description andappended claims, or may be learned by the practice of the invention asset forth hereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to describe the manner in which the above-recited and otheradvantages and features of the invention can be obtained, a moreparticular description of the invention briefly described above will berendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which areillustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawingsdepict only typical embodiments of the invention and are not thereforeto be considered to be limiting of its scope, the invention will bedescribed and explained with additional specificity and detail throughthe use of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a generalized network throughwhich an electronic message is transmitted from a sender computer to auser computer;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram depicting a generalized electronic messagingserver that provides electronic messaging services including sortingservices to various users;

FIG. 3A illustrates an accept list that associates attributes with asender address;

FIG. 3B illustrates additional source attributes that indicate how asender address was included in the accept list and that are associatedwith a sender address; and

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an electronic message that issorted by a sorting module that uses the attributes associated with asender address and/or a contact list of the intended recipient.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention relates to systems and methods for managingelectronic messages. More particularly, the present invention relates tosorting electronic messages using attributes associated with theelectronic message, the sender, and/or the sender address. The term“electronic messaging” includes any form of sending a messageelectronically including, but not limited to, via electronic mail(email), instant messaging, voice messaging, telephonic messaging, andother forms of electronic communication that involve the use of a senderaddress and a recipient or user address. An electronic message includes,but is not limited to, emails, instant messages, attachments, voicemails, and the like or any combination thereof

The following overview of electronic messaging is described in thecontext of email sent over the Internet. The term “unsolicited” as itrelates to the invention refers to any electronic message that is notdesired or wanted by the user. “Solicited” electronic messages refer toany electronic message that is desired or wanted by the user. Electronicmessages from senders of bulk electronic messages can be solicitedand/or unsolicited. Unsolicited electronic messages are typically sentfrom senders that are unauthorized.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram that illustrates an exemplary system forsending and delivering electronic messages over a computer network suchas the Internet. In FIG. 1, a sender computer 10 sends an electronicmessage to a user computer 12. The electronic message is routed throughone or more simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP) servers 14 beforearriving at the electronic messaging server 15 associated with usercomputer 12. The electronic messaging server 15 may be a server residingon a local area network with user computer 12, a server that usercomputer 12 accesses via a modem pool or with another Internetconnection, a web server that provides web-based electronic messagingservices to user computer 12, or a server that operates with usercomputer 12 in any of a variety of other network configurations. Theelectronic messaging server 15 also represents a server or a a system ofservers that provide electronic messaging services to various usercomputers that are geographically dispersed. The present invention canbe implemented on the electronic messaging server 15 or collapsed ontothe user computer 12. When the present invention is implemented on theelectronic messaging server 15, electronic messages are sorted for theusers that subscribe or receive electronic messages through theelectronic messaging server 15.

FIG. 2 illustrates an electronic messaging server 15 that provideselectronic messaging services to the user computers 100, which arerepresented by the user computer 101 and the user computer 102. Theelectronic messaging server 15 has a mail application 16 that includes asorting module 210 for sorting electronic messages. The mail application16 operates for each of the user computers 100. The electronic messagingserver 15 may also include other applications 17, such as a calendaringprogram, a contacts program, and the like. The mail application 16 isoften integrated with the applications 17. The data storage device 19may store data used by mail application 16 and applications 17.

In an alternative embodiment, the functionality of the mail application16 and the sorting module 210 can be collapsed onto the user computers.If the user computer 101 is used by more than one person, the sortingmodule 210 of the mail application 16 also has the ability to sortelectronic messages for all users of the user computer 101.

When an electronic message 38 arrives at the electronic messaging server15, the mail application 16 processes the electronic message and thesorting module 210 sorts the electronic message 38. In one embodiment,the sorting module 210 uses an accept list that can be implemented onthe electronic messaging server 15 or on the user computers 100. Theaccept list is usually a data structure that includes an entry for eachsender address. In one embodiment, an accept list is maintained for eachuser computer. Each sender address in an accept list has variousattributes that are used to sort electronic messages. In one embodiment,these attributes can be determined without direct input from the userwhile other attributes can be directly set by the user.

One advantage of having an accept list is that sorting electronicmessages is related to sender addresses that are persistently stored bythe electronic messaging server 15. When an electronic message 38 isreceived by the electronic messaging server 15, the attributes used tosort the electronic message can be immediately identified from thesender address of the electronic message. In contrast, a rule basedsystem typically applies each rule to the electronic message in order todetermine which rules apply. Thus, each electronic message is analyzedwith respect to each rule, regardless of whether the rule actuallyapplies to the electronic message. This inefficiency is overcome by thepresent invention because the attributes used to sort an electronicmessage are known from the sender address.

FIG. 3A illustrates an exemplary embodiment of an accept list 18. Inthis example, the accept list 18 is a data structure that includessender addresses and the attributes that are associated with each senderaddress. The accept list 18 thus includes a sender address field 57 thatstores sender addresses. The attributes 70 of the sender addressesinclude, but are not limited to, an authorized attributed 71, anunauthorized attribute 72, an unconfirmed attribute 73, a workgroupattribute (illustrated in this embodiment as workgroup A 74 andworkgroup B 75), and a subject attribute 76. One of skill in the art canappreciate that other attributes can also be included in the acceptlist.

The authorized attribute 71, the unauthorized attribute 72 and theunconfirmed attribute 73 relate to whether a sender is permitted to sendelectronic messages to the user. The authorized attribute 71 of thesender address indicates that the sender is permitted to send electronicmessages to the user and that electronic messages from that sender arenot deleted or discarded. The unauthorized attribute 71 of the senderaddress indicates that the sender is not permitted to send electronicmessages to the user and electronic messages from senders whoseunauthorized attribute is set are not delivered to the user and may beare deleted or stored in an unauthorized folder for later handling bythe user.

The unconfirmed attribute 73 indicates that the sender is neitherauthorized or unauthorized. This may occur, for example, when anelectronic message is received from a previously unknown sender.Electronic messages from an unconfirmed sender may be stored, forexample, in a temporary folder. The user can voluntarily access thisfolder and access these electronic messages. Alternatively, theseelectronic messages are further sorted when the associated sendersbecome either authorized or unauthorized senders of electronic messages.

FIG. 3B illustrates additional attributes that may be included in theaccept list 18. The attributes in FIG. 3B describe how a sender addresswas entered in the accept list 18 and are referred to herein as sourceattributes. These are examples of attributes that can be used toprioritize electronic messages as the electronic messages are sorted,although the attributes illustrated in FIG. 3A can also be used toprioritize the electronic messages. For example, an electronic messagefrom a sender that is explicitly authorized by the user may have ahigher priority than electronic messages from senders that were notexplicitly authorized.

Thus, a sender can become authorized or unauthorized in various mannersand the attributes illustrated in FIG. 3B describe a status of aparticular sender as well as how a particular sender became eitherauthorized or unauthorized. The user added attribute 242 indicates that,for example, a sender address 302 was explicitly added by the user tothe accept list 18. The user added attribute 242 can therefore includesender addresses of senders that have not previously sent an electronicmessage to the user. The sent message attribute 244 indicates that thesender associated with the sender address 304 is authorized because theuser sent an electronic message to that sender. By sending an electronicmessage to a sender, the user implies that the sender is an authorizedsender and the sent message attribute 244 is set. In these example, theauthorized attribute 71 of the corresponding senders is also set forauthorized senders.

The challenge/response attribute 246 indicates the status of a senderwith respect to a challenge that was sent to the sender. For instance,when a sender sends an electronic message to the user and the sender isneither an authorized sender nor an unauthorized sender, a challenge issent to the sender by the electronic messaging server. At this point,the sender becomes an unconfirmed sender and the unconfirmed attributeof the sender is set in the accept list 18. The sender is typicallyrequired to successfully respond to the challenge before the electronicmessage from the sender is delivered to the user. However, electronicmessages from an unconfirmed sender may be delivered until the senderbecomes unauthorized, which occurs if the sender does not successfullyrespond to the challenge. If the sender becomes an unauthorized sender,subsequent electronic messages are not delivered to the user.

The challenge, in one example, is an electronic message sent to thesender that includes a link to a web site. At the web site, the senderis required to enter a confirmation code in an text entry box providedat the web site. The confirmation code may be visible to the sender atthe web site when the sender accesses the web site or may be included inthe challenge. For example, a graphic that displays a alphanumericalcode may be visible to a user at the web site. The user is required toenter the alphanumerical code in an entry box. Because thealphanumerical code is represented graphically, the code can typicallyonly be entered by a person and cannot be entered automatically by acomputer. Alternatively, the sender may be required to answer a questionat the web site to successfully respond to the challenge. Only sendersthat successfully respond to the challenge can become authorized sendersand have the authorized attribute set for their sender address. Thechallenge/response attribute 246 indicates whether the response wascorrect, whether the response was timely, and the like. Thechallenge/response attribute 246 can be related to the authorizedattribute 71, the unauthorized attribute 72, and the unconfirmedattribute 73 in one embodiment.

The challenge issued by the mail application 16 is particularly usefulagainst senders of unsolicited electronic messages. The challenge issuedby the electronic messaging server is configured to permit a person toenter the correct response or confirmation code while preventing thecorrect response from being provided by a computer. Senders ofunsolicited electronic messages typically generate automatic responsesor no response at all and thereby become unauthorized senders becausethey fail to provide a correct response to the challenge.

In one embodiment of the accept list 18, the attributes associated witha sender address can be established without direct input from the user.These attributes, even though they can be set independent of the user,can be changed or set by the user as well. For example, a sender canbecome an authorized sender by successfully responding to the challenge.A user, however, can set the unauthorized attribute of a sender eventhough the sender successfully responded to the challengeunsuccessfully.

The attributes of the sender addresses in the accept list 18 can furtherinclude attributes that are determined by the user. The workgroupattributes 74, 75, and the subject attribute 76 can be set by the user.The workgroup attributes are useful, for example, for directingelectronic messages associated with particular workgroups. The workgroupattributes may indicate whether the sender is a partner, vendor,team-member, or other employee. These attributes can be used to sortelectronic messages.

For example, an employee of a company may receive 200 electronicmessages a day in the employee's inbox from authorized senders withinthe employee's company. The employee may also receive 50 electronicmessages from authorized senders outside of the company. Using theaccept list, the electronic messaging server can organize the electronicmessages using the attributes associated with the senders of theelectronic messages. The electronic messages may be sorted into foldersbased on the workgroup attributes, for example, or by other attributesin the accept list. Similarly, the subject attribute 76 may used to sortelectronic messages using the subject line of the electronic messages.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of how an electronic message is sortedusing attributes associated with the sender, sender address or othercharacteristic of the electronic message. In this example, an electronicmessage 38 has been received by an electronic messaging server and theattributes 70 have been accessed from the accept list based on thesender address of the electronic message 38. The sorting module 210applies the attributes 70 to sort or route the electronic message to theappropriate folder(s) or location(s). The sorting module 210 can routethe electronic message to a particular folder 212 (such as an inbox) orto more than one folder such as to the folder 212 and the folder 214.The sorting module 210 can also route an electronic message to asubfolder 216. The folder 214, for example, may be a temporary folderwhere electronic messages from unauthorized senders are sent.Alternatively, the folder 214 may be a work folder where electronicmessages from coworkers in the same workgroup are placed.

The combination of attributes can determine where an electronic messageis stored. For example, electronic messages can be given a high priorityand stored in a priority folder. Electronic messages from senders thatwere explicitly entered in the accept list by the user may be given ahigher priority that other electronic messages and placed in aparticular folder. Electronic messages from authorized senders may besent to the inbox folder while electronic messages from unconfirmedsenders are held in a temporary folder until the senders are eitherauthorized or unauthorized.

In another example, a user may subscribe to several newsletters,purchase goods on the Internet, and correspond with family members. Theuser thus receives electronic messages from each of these entities. Inthis example, all of the senders are authorized senders as the userdesires to receive electronic messages sent by these entities. Thesesenders also have other attributes that enable the sorting module todeliver electronic messages to corresponding folders. Family members,for example, may have a personal-private attribute that causeselectronic messages from family members to be delivered to a familyfolder. Internet merchants may use a combination of a merchant attributeand an authorized sender attribute to deliver electronic messages to amerchant folder.

The sorting module 210 may also utilize a contact list 220 to sort theelectronic messages. For example, all contacts in the users contact list220 can be deemed authorized senders and may be included in the acceptlist. When a contact is deleted, the contact simultaneously becomes anunauthorized sender or an unconfirmed sender and the correspondingattribute is set. The electronic messaging server has the ability toscan the contact list automatically and make adjustments to the acceptlist based on the content of the contact list 220.

The accept list 18 can also be used to associate attributes with domainnames in addition to sender addresses. Electronic messages from sendersin a particular domain can thus be sorted using the attributesassociated with the domain. The accept list 18 may also be updated orrefreshed periodically. This may give, for example, an unauthorizedsender another opportunity to become an authorized sender.Alternatively, an authorized sender may also be required to againconfirm that they are an authorized sender. This can be achieved in oneembodiment by issuing a new challenge to the sender.

The embodiments of the present invention may comprise a special purposeor general-purpose computer including various computer hardware, asdiscussed in greater detail below. Embodiments within the scope of thepresent invention also include computer-readable media for carrying orhaving computer-executable instructions or data structures storedthereon. Such computer-readable media can be any available media thatcan be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer. By wayof example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media cancomprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage,magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any othermedium which can be used to carry or store desired program code means inthe form of computer-executable instructions or data structures andwhich can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer.When information is transferred or provided over a network or anothercommunications connection (either hardwired, wireless, or a combinationof hardwired or wireless) to a computer, the computer properly views theconnection as a computer-readable medium. Thus, any such connection isproperly termed a computer-readable medium. Combinations of the aboveshould also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.Computer-executable instructions comprise, for example, instructions anddata which cause a general purpose computer, special purpose computer,or special purpose processing device to perform a certain function orgroup of functions.

The following discussion are intended to provide a brief, generaldescription of a suitable computing environment in which the inventionmay be implemented. Although not required, the invention will bedescribed in the general context of computer-executable instructions,such as program modules, being executed by computers in networkenvironments. Generally, program modules include routines, programs,objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasksor implement particular abstract data types. Computer-executableinstructions, associated data structures, and program modules representexamples of the program code means for executing steps of the methodsdisclosed herein. The particular sequence of such executableinstructions or associated data structures represents examples ofcorresponding acts for implementing the functions described in suchsteps.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention may bepracticed in network computing environments with many types of computersystem configurations, including personal computers, hand-held devices,multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumerelectronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and thelike. The invention may also be practiced in distributed computingenvironments where tasks are performed by local and remote processingdevices that are linked (either by hardwired links, wireless links, orby a combination of hardwired or wireless links) through acommunications network. In a distributed computing environment, programmodules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms withoutdeparting from its spirit or essential characteristics. The describedembodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrativeand not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicatedby the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. Allchanges which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of theclaims are to be embraced within their scope.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by United States LettersPatent is:

1. In a system that includes an electronic messaging server thatprovides electronic messaging services to one or more users, a methodfor sorting electronic messages for a user, the method comprising:assigning at least one attribute to each sender address; storing the atleast one attribute of each sender address in a first list, wherein thefirst list includes a) a first sender address having a first attributeexplicitly set by the user as an authorized sender address, b) a secondsender address having a second attribute implied as an authorized senderaddress when the user performs an action using the second senderaddress, and c) a third sender address having a third attributeestablished as one of an authorized sender address, unconfirmed senderaddress, or unauthorized sender address based on a response by a senderassociated with the third sender address and without direct input fromthe user; receiving a particular electronic message from a particularsender address at the server; accessing the first list; determining fromthe first list whether the particular sender address matches the firstsender address, and, if so, sorting the particular electronic messageinto a high priority inbox folder; determining from the first listwhether the particular sender address matches the second sender address,and, if so, sorting the particular electronic message into an inboxfolder having less priority than the high priority inbox folder;determining from the first list whether the particular sender addressmatches the third sender address, and, if so, if the third senderaddress is an authorized sender address, sorting the particularelectronic message into the inbox folder having less priority than thehigh priority inbox folder; if the third sender address is anunconfirmed sender address, sorting the particular electronic messageinto a temporary folder; and if the third sender address is anunauthorized sender address, sorting the particular electronic messageinto an unauthorized folder; and if the particular sender address doesnot match the first sender address, second sender address, or thirdsender address, sorting the particular electronic message into thetemporary folder.
 2. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein a secondsender address having a second attribute implied as an authorized senderaddress when the user performs an action using the second sender addresscomprises assigning the second attribute based on the user sending anelectronic message to the second sender address.
 3. A method as definedin claim 1, wherein a second sender address having a second attributeimplied as an authorized sender address when the user performs an actionusing the second sender address comprises assigning the second attributebased on the user adding the second sender address to a contact list ofthe user.
 4. A method as defined in claim 3, further comprising settingan unauthorized attribute of the second sender if the second sender isremoved from the contact list.
 5. A method as defined in claim 1,wherein a third sender address having a third attribute established asone of an authorized sender address, unconfirmed sender address, orunauthorized sender address based on a response by a sender associatedwith the third sender address and without direct input from the usercomprises assigning the third attribute based on issuing a challenge tothe third sender address.
 6. A method as defined in claim 4, furthercomprising: receiving a response from the particular sender thatreceived the challenge; and setting an authorized attribute for thethird sender address if the particular sender responds correctly to thechallenge.
 7. A method as defined in claim 4, further comprising settingan unauthorized attribute for the third sender address if the particularsender does not respond to the challenge or responds incorrectly to thechallenge.
 8. In a system that includes an electronic messaging serverthat provides electronic messaging services to one or more users, amethod for sorting electronic messages for a user, the methodcomprising: assigning a first attribute to each sender address toindicate whether each sender address is an authorized sender address oran unauthorized sender address; when the first attribute of a particularsender address is an authorized sender address, assigning a secondattribute to indicate a one or more workgroup attributes, wherein theworkgroup attributes defines how to direct an electronic messageassociated with a particular workgroup; storing the first attribute andthe second attribute for one or more sender addresses in a first list;receiving a particular electronic message from a particular senderaddress at the server; accessing the first list; determining from thefirst attribute in the first list whether the particular sender addressis an authorized sender address or an unauthorized sender address; whenthe particular sender address is an authorized sender address,determining from the first list whether the particular sender addresshas a second attribute that identifies a particular workgroup attribute;and when the particular sender address has a particular workgroupattribute, directing the particular electronic message to a foldercorresponding to the particular workgroup attribute.
 9. The method asrecited in claim 8, wherein a particular workgroup is a partner, vendor,team-member, or employee.
 10. The method as recited in claim 8, whereinwhen the particular sender address is an unauthorized sender address,directing the particular electronic message to an unauthorized folder.11. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein assigning a firstattribute to each sender address to indicate whether each sender addressis an authorized sender address or an unauthorized sender addresscomprises at least one of: the first attribute being explicitly set bythe user, the first attribute being impliedly set by the user performingan action using the sender address, or the first attribute being setbased on a response by a sender associated with the sender address andwithout direct input from the user.
 12. A method as defined in claim 11,wherein the first attribute being impliedly set by the user performingan action using the sender address includes the user sending anelectronic message to the sender address or the user adding the senderaddress to a contact list of the user.
 13. A method as defined in claim11, wherein the first attribute being set based on a response by asender associated with the sender address and without direct input fromthe user includes sending a challenge to the sender address and, if thesender responds correctly to the challenge, setting the first attributeas an authorized sender attribute.
 14. In a system that includes anelectronic messaging server that provides electronic messaging servicesto one or more users, a method for sorting electronic messages for auser, the method comprising: assigning a first attribute to each senderaddress to indicate whether each sender address is an authorized senderaddress or an unauthorized sender address; when the first attribute of aparticular sender address is an authorized sender address, assigning asecond attribute to defines how to direct an electronic messageassociated with a sender; storing the first attribute and the secondattribute for one or more sender addresses in a first list; receiving aparticular electronic message from a particular sender address at theserver; accessing the first list; determining from the first attributein the first list whether the particular sender address is an authorizedsender address or an unauthorized sender address; when the particularsender address is an authorized sender address, determining from thefirst list whether the particular sender address has a second attribute;and directing the particular electronic message to a foldercorresponding to the second attribute.
 15. The method as recited inclaim 14, wherein the second attribute is a workgroup attribute and thefolder corresponding to the second attribute is a workgroup folder. 16.The method as recited in claim 14, wherein the second attribute is apersonal attribute and the folder corresponding to the second attributeis a personal folder.
 17. The method as recited in claim 14, wherein thesecond attribute is a merchant attribute and the folder corresponding tothe second attribute is a merchant folder.